Why isn't VLC displaying my Blu-ray discs' opening menu?

[technerd]

I have a Windows 7 64-bit PC. I use VLC Media Player to play DVDs. I recently added an SSD and a Blu-ray drive to this PC. The Windows 7 install was about two years old -- so I used this opportunity to swap the HDD for the SSD and then install a new copy of Windows 7. I also installed VLC and my licensed copy of AnyDVD. I have not installed any third-party codecs.

When I use VLC to 'open disc' a DVD, the DVD's opening menu appears...and I can navigate and play the DVD without a problem. When I attempt to open any of my purchased Blu-ray discs, however, I get the following error message: "This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it." When I launch AnyDVD and then open any Blu-ray disc, the error message does not appear and the disc begins playing; however, it doesn't display the menu. Instead. each disc plays at a different place: the start of the movie. the start of a special features segment, somewhere else, etc. Worse, there doesn't appear to be a way to access the Blu-ray disc's menu. Perhaps coincidentally, I notice in VLC a Playback > Title > "DVD Menu" item for my DVDs...but no such item for any of my Blu-ray discs; instead, it displays Playback > Title > Title [n]. Perhaps the structure of Blu-ray discs does not provide a select-able menu--even though a menu *does* appear when I put the disc in my stand-alone Blu-ray disc player (obviously).

Is my experience with Blu-ray discs (whether old or new) and VLC typical? Or is this perhaps some anomaly introduced by AnyDVD? Is there a way to have VLC display my Blu-ray discs' opening menu?

[bernd_b]

I wonder if displaying BluRay menus is already implemented at all.

For Playback without the help of AnyDVD, I guess this error message says what you are missing: "This Blu-ray Disc needs a library for AACS decoding, and your system does not have it". So fire up your favourite search engine and see if you would like to find it.

[technerd]

Thanks, but the Blu-ray discs play OK when AnyDVD is running. Presumably, that is providing the correct codec. I'm just wondering why the discs' menu isn't appearing nor (apparently) accessible.

[high-whey]

vlc doesn't play Blu ray yet.
Why the meatheads at vlc don't clarify this instead of letting people flounder for hours is beyond me.

Having said that, make sure your Blu-ray player is blu-ray compliant.
Maybe it came with some bundled software like Cyberlink 10? Many drives do.

To decode a blu-ray disc, search YouTube for Blu ray vlc.
A couple of suggestions are:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iOzZUGB3NHY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZAbZQDOOio

'Piece of advice: if the software doesn't work like vlc, move on. spend the $40 bucks and get commercial software.
I've wasted countless hours in forums trying to get answers.
Sometimes successful, but usually not.

[Jean-Baptiste Kempf]

Why the meatheads at vlc don't clarify this instead of letting people flounder for hours is beyond me.

Go away with your hatred and insults.

Where is it said that it is 100% supported?

[technerd]

Thanks for the replies.

How do I know if my player (Pioneer BDC-207DBK) is "blu-ray compliant"? (The drive came with Nero 12; however, I don't think that's relevant for playback.)

Is there an estimate as to when VLC will properly support Blu ray discs?

I viewed the YouTube videos. My current options appear to be purchasing PowerDVD or copying VLC-sensitive CFG and DLL files to my system. For the latter, it's not clear to me whether it will result in a better experience than what I already have with VLC and AnyDVD (described in my earlier post).

[wallenquist]

Jean-baptiste Kempf took the time to reply to someone else that VLC is not 100% supported, but offered you no solutions.

That should tell you that you won't get a resolution to your problem here.

Well chap, looks like you're on your own.